i-Pix on The Killers

US rockers The Killers kicked off the first European leg of their 2009 “Day & Age” world tour in their own unique style, complete with an inventive lighting design by Steven Douglas.

This is a total departure from the more classical theatrical lighting and look that characterised their previous major “Sam's Town” world tour, bringing a lively, contemporary multi-LED based ambience to the stage. Part of this look is created with the latest i-Pix BB fixtures – of which there are 15 BB7s and 27 BB4s on the tour.

The Killers were the second band to use i-Pix's BB7s after their launch last year – following Radiohead, for whom the fixture was developed. They formed an integral part of the floor specials package on the Killers' summer festival tour throughout 2008, and Douglas said back then that he intended to integrate them into the rig for their 2009 arena tour.

He was instantly impressed with the distinctive petal-like shape, brightness, colour-mixing and fabulously smooth homogenised lightsource, which resembles a incandescent lamp in appearance and quality of light.

The 15 BB7s – added for the Euro leg “Day & Age” following the start of the tour in the US - are positioned in a long line, upstage of a massive ColorWeb grid used as a back wall. They shoot straight through the ColorWeb when it's not in use, throwing a series of deeply coloured, intense washes onto the stage. They also emphasise the careful combination of linearity and spherical shapes that define the stage architecture.

Fifteen of the BB4s are positioned on the front of three 17ft diameter circular over-stage trusses, and used for awesome audience blinding effects – for which their extreme punch is perfect.

The other 12 are positioned on the deck in 8-lite formats, attached to 6 vertical truss towers, also just upstage of the ColorWeb. These are used highly effectively for low level blinding and blasting fat slices of light through the band and backline from behind.

“The BBs are great because they don't look like LED fixtures and there are no issues with pixellated or fragmented, blocky ligthsources” says Douglas, adding, “The colour mixing is great, you can strobe them and they are far more robust, tourable and versatile than an 8-lite with a scroller”.

The BBs, along with all the lighting equipment or the European tour is being supplied by Siyan, and Douglas is running the show on a grandMA full size console.